Thanks for visiting us at the Carolina Fiber Fest

Thanks to everyone who came out to the NC Fairgrounds last weekend for the Carolina FiberFest.  We had great fun meeting folks from the other half of the state.  Here is Judy in the center of our colorful booth surrounded by natural and dyed fiber from local farms and fiber artists. We hope to be back next year. 

Please spread the word about this gathering with your fiber community to help it grow.  The Graham building is BIG!  We need to fill it up with spinners, knitters, weavers, felt makers, shepherds and everybody who wants to join the fun!

We are happy to be back in Asheville with our new friends and regular knitters.  Join us any Friday evening for our famous Sit & Knit.  Excellent knitting, lively conversation and usually a snack or two.  See you soon!

Join Us at the Carolina Fiber Fest!

If you are in or anywhere near Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend, please visit our booth at the Carolina Fiber Fest.  We've stocked our booth with lots of hand spun yarns, locally grown natural fibers and hand dyed fibers, much of it from local artists and fiber producers.   We'll have lots of notions for knitting, crocheting, hairpin lace and plenty of goodies for needle felting.  

The Fiber Fest features lots of classes and demonstrations that cover all different genres of fiber arts, from raising your own fiber animals, through carding and spinning, knitting and crochet to bobbin lace making.  There will be live animals on hand and a skein and garment competition so you can see amazing things that your friends have been making.  There will also be live music, a book signing event and a Sheep to Shawl demonstration!

Sound like fun?  It's located in the Jim Graham Building at the NC State Fairgrounds.  Click here for directions. See you there!

The Asheville shop will still be open with our friendly Friday evening Sit and Knit.  So maybe we'll see you here in the historic Grove Arcade.

The Asheville Yarn Crawl Has Begun

Come by the store this weekend, May 13-15, 2011 for specials and a chance to win a wonderful basket of yarns, patterns and tools donated by the sponsoring yarn companies.  As always we have hand spun yarn, hand dyed fiber and so many different yarns you'll be amazed.  Knit a sexy shawl or crochet a summer scarf.  How about practical socks, or a soon-to-be treasured baby blankie?

Friday night will be our regular Sit and Knit.  Bring your project or start a new one!  See you soon!

Asheville Yarn Crawl - May 13-15, 2011

We are happy to be a part of the first annual Asheville Yarn Crawl.

What's a yarn crawl?  Well, the independent yarn shops throughout Western North Carolina and even into upstate South Carolina want to make sure that the fiber enthusiasts and artists are well acquainted with all the shops  as well as the companies that supply and distribute the yarns and accessories we carry.

So much like a studio tour, there is a self guided itinerary for the exploration of participating stores, fiber farms, and galleries. Start here at the historic Grove Arcade as you support your local Western North Carolina fiber crafts community and stores by participating in this fun event! Yarn companies are contributing full sized samples of yarns, needles, and other great products that are included in the raffle baskets that will be available at every store along the crawl. There is one raffle basket in each store, and everyone is eligible to enter the raffle!

The best part of all, this entire event is FREE! There is no charge to participate in the crawl, and every participant is entitled to one free raffle ticket from each store they visit.

This is a great way to thank our regular customers for supporting our business, but it's also a way for you to see what other stores have and meet other fiber junkies.  So come by any time this weekend, check out the specials and register for this very cool basket of yarny goodness.

Coming up very soon:  The Carolina Fiber Fest in Raleigh, NC on May 20-22, 2011.  We'll be there.  Watch this space for upcoming news!

Friday evening is always sit and knit time, so drop by with your project or start a new one.  Maybe you'll win the prize, but you won't know until Sunday evening!  Who's feeling lucky?

Wearin' of the Green Sale

Want to wear a green hat or scarf on March 17th?  How about knitting with green yarn?  Do you like to save a bit of green?

As the grass in Asheville greens up in our lovely, if changeable spring weather, you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a bit of the green yourself.  Save 10% on any green hat, scarf or yarn now through March 19th.  Marie, Judy or any of the staff can help your look great now, or plan your next project.  Manly loden green socks in the planning-ahead-for-the-next-holiday box?  How about a lovely moss green sweater for yourself?  Consider knitting a mint green baby blanket for some future baby...

The sale yarn cart is coming back out.  Save 30% through the end of the month on yarns that need to find a new home.  Drop by on any Friday evening for our famous Sit 'n' Knit.  Crocheters welcome too!

New Yarns!

If you like Plymouth's Baby Alpaca Grande, you are going to love the newest version - it has sparkles!  In addition to the full line of solids & multicolors, Grande Glow is now in the building!  It's the same bulky, light weight yarn that knits up quickly into scarves, shawls and sweaters.  Grande Glow has a sweet sparkle - - the dark blue looks like the night sky!  Very pretty!  Think about a light wrap  - perfect for cool evenings even as the weather turns warmer.

New baby in your life?  Consider Candy Cane yarn is a completely washable acrylic yarn that comes in yarn big 207 yard skeins.  It's comes in pretty baby pastels - pink, blue, aqua, green, even a multicolor.  The yarn changes color subtly as the individual plies change color.  Although knitters and crocheters are making lots of different baby things with it, this knitter sees it in a baby blanket.  My favorite is the 'dishcloth' baby blanket - knit on the diagonal with a pretty eyelet trim.  Here's a link to the super-easy pattern from the Yarn Lover's Room.

There are lots of other new yarns, new colors and other goodies to tempt you.  So drop in to the shop for yarn, fiber, tools to get started on your next project.  What?  You don't knit or crochet?  That's okay.  Select from hats, scarves, shawls and other cozy goodies for yourself or others.  Check out our quilt selection too.  Remarkable fiber art that know no season!

New Viking Yarns

I'm so happy to share 2 new yarns that have recently made themselves at home at Asheville Home Crafts. From Viking of Norway, these are beautiful soft wool yarns in an amazing array of colors.

To be completely honest we have had Viking Balder for a while, but now we have greatly expanded the color palette.  Now in far more colors, we have sweater quantities available of this beautiful chunky yarn.  It's happy to be knit on size 11 needles.  There are 90 yards in a 100 gram skein, so plan on 2 skeins for a hat + scarf or hat + mittens.  Great for childrens wear - it's machine washable!

Feltmakers:  Look at Viking Naturngarn!  Same soft hand, same chunky weight, but feltable.  This 100% wool yarn is in a smaller ball - just 55 yards per 50 gram, and at a very reasonable price.  We have solids, multicolors and tone-on-tone all across the spectrum.

Even more good news:  We have several pattern books available and a couple of sample sweaters on display.  So stop by and check out the colors and soft texture of this yarn.  It's currently located on a shelf facing the color wall.  Start dreaming about what you want to knit with this scrumptious yarn.

We'll help you get started on your next project with Viking or any yarns.  Just drop by the store any time, but particularly on Friday evenings.  It's our regular Sit & Knit session and you are welcome to join - for help if you need it or conversation if you don't.  See you then!